A suspected pedophile facing child-abuse charges cannot exclude evidence that was brought to light by airport security workers during a routine check of his luggage, the 9th Circuit ruled.

Simon McCarty, a citizen of the United Kingdom, faces several felony charges in Hawaii stemming from the discovery of “almost five dozen photographs of nude and partially nude minors, children’s underwear and pajama advertisements, and handwritten notes describing the molestation of children” in his luggage by Transportation Security Administration agents at Hilo International Airport on the Big Island, according to the ruling. During a subsequent search of McCarty’s laptop, investigators found “hundreds of images and at least 200 video clips of child pornography,” and videos of “McCarty engaged in sexual activity with at least three different prepubescent boys.”

McCarty left Hilo for Honolulu in the summer of 2008 when a screening machine alerted agents to conduct a deeper search of one bag containing an unknown dense object. As a TSA screener went through the bag, an envelope fell out, spilling a few of the illicit photographs. After discovering more photos, children’s underwear ads and the other items, TSA supervisors called the police, who arrested McCarty two days later on a federal complaint…